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A tumult; a noisy quarrel; a disturbance; a brawl; contention; discord, either between individuals or in the state. I will own that there is a haughtiness and fierceness in human nature which will which will cause innumerable broils, place men in what situation you please. Burke.

The heat, or utmost violence, of an onset; the strength or greatest fury of any contention; as, the brunt of a battle.

A bag or sack with its contents; hence, a stock or store; an accumulation; as, a budget of inventions.

rned out, to suffer loss by fire, as the burning of one's house, store, or shop, with the contents. -- To burn up, To burn down, to burn entirely.

Perverse; contentious; ugly; malicious. [Colloq.] -- Can*tan"ker*ous*ly, adv. -- Can*tan"ker*ous*ness, n. The cantankerous old maiden aunt. Theckeray.

Cheerful; sprightly; lively; merry. "The canty dame." Wordsworth [Scot. & Prov. Eng.] Contented with little, and canty with mair. Burns.

A box and its contents; the quantity contained in a box; as, a case of goods; a case of instruments.

iot. Macaulay. Changelings and fools of heaven, and thence shut out. Wildly we roam in discontent about. Dryden.

Having or showing good spirits or joy; cheering; cheery; contented; happy; joyful; lively; animated; willing. To entertain a cheerful disposition. Shak. The cheerful birds of sundry kind Do chant sweet music. Spenser. A cheerful confidence in the mercy of God. Macaulay. This general applause and cheerful shout. Shak.…

Strife; contention; controversy. [Obs.] P. Plowman.

ided at his own expense and under his own supervision one of the choruses for the musical contents at Athens.

The process or operation of feeding the contents of the crucilbe with fresh material. B. Jonson.

A continued expression of dissatisfaction or discontent; a popular outcry. Macaulay.

Clay mixed with straw. [Prov. Eng.] The poor cottager contenteth himself with cob for his walls, and thatch for his covering. R. Carew.

A struggling; a contention. [Obs.] Colluctation with old hags and hobgoblins. Dr. H. More.

In a condition of comfort; having comforts; not suffering or anxious; hence, contented; cheerful; as, to lead a comfortable life. My lord leans wondrously to discontent; His comfortable temper has forsook him: He is much out of health. Shak.

Calm contentment; satisfaction; gratification. The inward complacence we find in acting reasonably and virtuously. Atterbury. Others proclaim the infirmities of a great man with satisfaction and complacency, if they discover none of the like in themselves. Addison.

Self-satisfied; contented; kindly; as, a complacent temper; a complacent smile. They look up with a sort of complacent awe . . . to kings. Burke.

To bear; to endure; to brook; to put with. [Obs.] The malcontented sort That never can the present state comport. Daniel.

Hollow; void of contents. [R.] As concave . . . as a worm-eaten nut. Shak.